Most Affordable Acne Treatment for you

The most affordable and cheapest acne treatment available

Pimples have an uncanny way of showing up at the most inopportune times. Whether you're going to work, getting ready for a wedding, or preparing for a hot date, all you want is those blemishes to be gone--and fast. Unfortunately, the majority of over-the-counter acne treatments like Clearasil are incredibly drying, and often wind up leaving you with red, irritated skin. Nobody should have to choose between such extremes. And thanks to the genius of Burt's Bees Parsley Blemish Stick, you don't have to pick one or the other nightmare anymore.

Burt's Bees Parsley Blemish Stick comes in a 0.26 ounce glass tube with a clever roller top. Unlike the usual pimple-fighting suspects on the market, it's also 99.9% natural. The botanical-rich formula contains a blend of calendula extract, borage extract, yarrow extract, parsley extract, willow bark extract, lemon oil, fennel oil, tea tree oil, juniper oil, and eucalyptus oil. The calendula works to reduce swelling and calm down angry skin. The borage decreases the redness associated with break-outs. The parsley is a wonderful oil-reducing astringent.



The yarrow and willow bark contain salicylic acid, which is an extremely well known and commonly used blemish banisher. The tea tree oil and juniper oil fight the different kinds of bacteria that so often cause acne. And the rest of the oils moisturize so there's no trail of dryness left behind. In short, all the pimple problem bases are covered!

To use Burt's Bees Parsley Blemish Stick, first wash your face and towel it completely dry. Then apply a light coating of the formula to any existing break-outs you already have as well as any other larger areas which are prone to oily shine and pimples. Make sure you don't get the product in your eyes or apply it more than twice a day, as it could sting. And remember, you don't have to slather on half the bottle at once--Burt's Bees Parsley Blemish Stick is so concentrated that a little is all you need. The product absorbs instantly, and you're left enjoying the spicy herbal scent of all those lovely botanicals.

Much to my delight, I saw positive results after only a few days of using Burt's Bees Parsley Blemish Stick. My pimples dried up without redness or scarring, no new break-outs occurred, and my skin felt baby soft. I also noticed a real reduction in the amount of oily shine in my T-zone, which was a terrific added bonus. After struggling with a problem complexion for so long, I couldn't have been more pleased!

My conclusion? The $8.00 you pay for Burt's Bees Parsley Blemish Stick will be the best acne-fighting money you've ever spent. So get rid of all those drying chemical alternatives and go natural the Burt's Bees way. Your skin will thank you for it!

5 things it's cheaper to do yourself

Paint your own house? That might be a bit much, but several everyday tasks can cost less if you take matters into your own hands.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

You can make a good argument for hiring out certain tasks because it frees your time or because the person you hire will do a better job.

In fact, people have. Author Timothy Ferriss turned the idea of outsourcing your life into a best-selling book, "The 4-Hour Workweek."

But when money is tight and you're looking for places to cut, some of the places you're outsourcing now should get a second look. Perhaps the cost-to-time-saved ratio isn't what you thought, or maybe your need for cash is so pressing it has to take a front seat to other considerations.

I polled folks on the Your Money message board for ways they've found to do it themselves and save money. I didn't agree with all the notions, as you'll see, and even when I did I included exceptions (the "yeah, buts").

Still, if you're looking for ways to save money, consider these:

Your daily bread

Despite some assertions to the contrary in "Is eating out cheaper than cooking?" the simplest and fastest way for most folks to cut their budgets is to stop outsourcing food preparation.

That means cooking meals at home -- and opting for raw ingredients over convenience foods. If the word "tray" is involved, the markup can be truly breathtaking.

My local grocery charges $30 for a tray of veggies and dip that will feed 12 to 16 people. I can reproduce the same tray, lettuce liner and all, with less than $10 of ingredients and about five minutes of rinsing and slicing.

And all those 100-calorie snack packs? A cute idea, a serious waste of money.

"Instead, buy a large bag and measure out a serving into smaller containers," advised poster "psugrl." "It is cheaper and makes less waste (I use reusable containers)."

Cooking doesn't have to be a big, fat, hairy deal. Bookstores and the Web are replete with cooking advice for those with attention spans of 30 minutes or less.

Yeah, but: Eating out occasionally is a lovely treat. And if the meal involves gazillions of exotic ingredients, takes all day to cook or requires skills that you don't have, it's far, far better to outsource it than subject yourself to a day of misery (and your guests to pie crust that's hard to distinguish from the pie pan).

Many home repairs and improvements

Just as painting isn't rocket science, neither are many minor household repairs, from fixing a leaky faucet to installing a dimmer switch.

What they take is time, some patience and a good how-to book. What you can save is, well, lots.

A few posters on the Your Money board said they painted interior rooms. Poster "agilemom" said her husband completed a much bigger job: He painted the exterior of their home last year.

"Finished in a weekend. Cost about $500 with supplies, but the estimates were in the range of $2,800," agilemom wrote.

And there's clearly some satisfaction involved. Poster "Snuggle Zach" has never had a handyman. He fixes everything around the house, "except the roof, because I am afraid of falling. . . . Saved thousands of dollars and job was done right, the first time."

Yeah, but: You have to consider safety and inertia.

I like the line that one poster draws between jobs worth attempting and those not:

"I am willing to take on my own home repairs when there is no risk of death (I won't mess with electrical stuff)," "WeWillBackGowron" wrote, "and/or when whatever I'm doing will not result in damage that costs much more to fix than had I just hired someone to begin with."

Hear, hear. I still regret an "easy" plumbing fix I attempted on my first house that turned into a sizable repair bill (and an afternoon spent repairing the plaster wall I ruined). "How to Fix Everything for Dummies" might have been a better start.

• Find a contractor to help with your home project

Another factor to consider: Will the job get done? All the good intentions in the world might not matter if the repairs and improvements never happen. In those cases, you might be smart to hand your to-do list over to Mr. Handyman and be done with it.

Personal care

After reading all the grooming tasks Your Money posters perform on themselves, I was waiting for someone to volunteer that he did his own plastic surgery.

Fortunately, I was disappointed. But I did hear from a crop of folks who cut their own hair, or their kids', or color or highlight their own tresses.

Poster "p7eter" shaves his own head -- "I'm going bald anyway" -- and "StillOnTheRoad" buzzes his locks using a $30 set of clippers purchased years ago.

I was more in tune with poster "hateditanyway," who gives herself a manicure and pedicure every Saturday morning.

"Everyone at work thinks I hang out at the salon on weekends, but, nope, it's all my own doing," hateditanyway wrote. "It is VERY easy to cut, file and polish one's nails -- all 20 of 'em."

Yeah, but: Hairdos have to be pretty simple to undergo a do-it-yourself cut without looking, well, do-it-yourself. And salons -- hair or nail -- can be as much a social event and a retreat as a grooming experience. Still, you can save some money learning how to do a simple bang or mustache trim or polishing your own nails every other week.

Remember your iron?

A good tailor can be a godsend, particularly if you aren't a perfect-sized anything. A few alterations can make basic clothes look terrific.

But you don't need a tailor to sew on a button or hem a pair of jeans. And you certainly don't need to drop clothing off at a dry cleaner just to be pressed. Any task that's simple enough to do while you're watching "American Idol" is something you can tackle yourself. If you're not sure how, ask a handy friend.

Poster "GCG1RL" said her husband "was always taking things to the cleaners to have them mended or pressed." Then the couple bought a steamer and GCG1RL took over the mending.

"Really, it takes like 40 minutes to steam shirts for the week and 10 minutes to iron the pants," she wrote. "Sewing on a button takes like five minutes."

Yeah, but: Some people really, truly hate ironing, steaming or anything involving a needle. If you've got that big a phobia, maybe you can swap the task with a spouse or friend for something you're more willing to do, such as scrub the toilets. Speaking of which, you might want to rethink . . .

Lawn and home care

Several posters did the cost-benefit calculation on housecleaners and lawn services and found both came up wanting.

Poster "justeloped" touted the exercise and enjoyment to be had from gardening, mulching and landscaping, while poster "ARCHIEtheDRAGON," who bought a mower for $65, knocks out the task in "30-40 minutes every week or two."

When it comes to housecleaning, others said the effort involved isn't onerous enough for them to hire help.

"I find that the decluttering prior to cleaning is what takes longer. Running the vacuum, swishing the toilet brush around and running the mop over the floor really does not take that long," poster GCG1RL wrote. "You have to declutter for the cleaning lady anyway, so just save the money and finish the task yourself."

Poster agilemom said hired cleaning help "was totally worth the money" when her children were young and she and her husband "were on the run all the time." As the kids have gotten older, they've been more able to pitch in.

"A few months back we looked at each other and said, 'Why are we still paying for this?' Now we do it as a family then spend the money we saved doing fun stuff."

Yeah, but: Consider harmony. If you and your significant other are just going to fight over who doesn't do what, the investment in cleaning or lawn care services may be worthwhile. You have to consider the community as well. Don't make your neighbors seethe as the new crop of dandelions is overrun by the crabgrass.

Liz Pulliam Weston's latest book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.

Avoid these 7 nasty airline fees

Is your bag overweight by 1 pound? Want a pillow for your nap? How about your favorite seat? Such small luxuries could cost you -- unless you're prepared.

By SmartMoney.com

Airfare represents a mere fraction of the total cost to fly these days. From the time you walk into the terminal until the plane lands, your total fare will surpass the quote you received from your favorite travel site when you booked the flight.

"Every week, it's a different airline and a different fee," says Anne Banas, executive editor for travel advice site SmarterTravel.com. Blame it on sky-high fuel costs, which have sparked billion-dollar losses industrywide. (Only Southwest Airlines, which locked in fuel prices eight years ago, remains comparatively fee-free.)

Looking for ways to make up for those losses -- without scaring off customers by raising fares -- airlines now charge for the most basic amenities. "We are truly going to an a-la-carte system," says Tom Parsons, CEO of discount airfares site BestFares.com. "It's down to the nickel and dime from here on out."

For consumers, the best defense is to factor in the fees each airline charges when comparing fares, Banas says. Here are seven instances in which fees are assessed and how to avoid them:

Booking

Except for Southwest, every major airline charges a fee to book a flight over the phone. The worst offenders are Delta Air Lines, Frontier and United Airlines, which charge $25 per ticket.

Third-party travel sites like Expedia and Orbitz charge between $6 and $12 per ticket for online booking. To avoid these fees, book directly on an airline's Web site, says George Hobica, publisher of fare-tracking site AirfareWatchdog.com.

Redeeming frequent-flier miles

"Some people have been collecting miles for years, and now they have to pay extra to use them," Parsons says. US Airways charges $25 to $40 for you to book a flight using frequent-flier miles. American Airlines charges $5. As of Oct. 1, the airline is charging new fees for rewards upgrades ($50 to upgrade from coach to first class on a domestic flight, for instance) and higher mile requirements (a round-trip ticket to Europe costs 20,000 more miles). Worse, it's extremely tough for frequent fliers to redeem their miles now that airlines are cutting back on flights, Parsons says.

• How to get luxury perks for your travel buck

Choosing a seat

Opt to stretch out in an exit row, and it'll cost you. AirTran charges a flat $20 for those seats, while United charges anywhere from $14 to $109 per flight. Even if you aren't angling for extra legroom, you can get charged just for choosing a seat.

Spirit now assesses a $15 fee to passengers who choose a window seat, $10 for an aisle and $5 for one in the middle. To avoid paying, check in online as early as possible -- usually 24 hours before the flight -- and you should be able to pick a seat for free, Hobica says.

Changing a ticket

Southwest is the only airline that doesn't charge domestic ticket holders for altering an itinerary. Change a flight on any other airline, and you can expect to pay a fee ranging from $75 (Alaska Airlines, for online changes) to $150 (American, Continental, United and US Airways).

The best defense against these fees is to solidify plans before you book, Banas says. Paying a slightly higher fare usually costs less than getting hit with a change fee.

Curbside baggage check

Don't feel like rolling your suitcases inside the terminal? It'll cost you. Northwest and US Airways charge $2 per bag for curbside check-in. Delta charges $3. Use a little elbow grease and roll the luggage inside in order to avoid the first of many fees at the airport, Parsons says.

Checking bags

When it comes to checking luggage, it's now a virtual fee-for-all, Banas warns. American, Northwest, United and US Airways all charge $15 for the first checked bag. And while Delta announced it would stand firm against invoking such a fee, it has doubled charges for a second checked bag to $50.

Think you can avoid the second-bag fee by stuffing everything into one case? That may end up costing even more. Going just 1 pound over the 50-pound limit triggers an overweight fee of $29 (AirTran) to $125 (United). Stick to carry-on bags (although be prepared to fight for space) or ship extra-heavy bags to the hotel ahead of time to avoid these fees.

In-flight amenities

Forget about relaxing with a soft pillow and a cold drink. Only a few holdouts, including Continental and JetBlue, offer free drinks and snacks anymore. US Airways, for example, now charges $2 for nonalcoholic drinks.

• The death of the airline meal

And be prepared to get hit in other ways. Want a pillow and blanket on your JetBlue flight? That'll be $7. To avoid paying $3 for a bag of chips, pack snacks and an inflatable pillow from home and buy a drink at the terminal, Hobica says.

This story was reported and written by Kelli B. Grant for SmartMoney.com. 

The secrets behind crazy air-travel prices

There's a method to the seeming madness that prices the same ticket several different ways. Business and first-class travelers pay a premium that allows leisure passengers to fly for less.

By Karen Aho

Perhaps you've been here: You snag a flight cross country -- and back -- for just $320, board the plane and notice a bunch of empty seats. You think: How can an airline afford this?

A few months later, you repeat the trip on shorter notice. This time, you pay $1,200 for basically the same seat. You think: This airline is making a fortune off me.

But here's the thing: Airlines are not crazy. They know exactly what they're doing. They just don't always tell customers.

And to some extent they can't. The fares are so complicated, and change so often, that no travel agent -- no computer, even -- can tell you just what that ticket to Toledo will cost you next Tuesday.

"The yield-management system at the airlines has gotten so sophisticated," said Victoria Wofford, the president of the business-travel firm Tri-Pen Management. "Travelers certainly don't understand it, and the airline doesn't want them to."

Lesson No. 1: Flying isn't cheap

The U.S. airline industry historically loses more than it makes -- $35 billion in five years after 2000 alone -- and is the butt of many a poor-investment joke. (The best may be from Virgin Atlantic Airways founder Richard Branson, who said that to become a millionaire, one must get a billion dollars and start an airline.)

The problem lies in the convergence of two financial factors:

• Operating an airline is very expensive.

• Its source of revenue, the airline seat, is highly perishable. The moment the plane takes off, that revenue opportunity is lost forever. It is often compared to a rotting banana.

"It's one of the toughest businesses I can think of to make money in," said Daniel Petree, the dean of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's College of Business in Daytona Beach, Fla. "The landscape is littered with failures."

No airline in the world has succeeded with a single-fare structure, said Peter Belobaba, a pricing management expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Global Airline Industry Program. They get beaten by the competition during off-peak travel.

"They learn pretty quickly that that's not a revenue-maximizing, or profit-maximizing, way to go," Belobaba said.

Take this hypothetical from American Airlines, the world's largest airline and the only U.S. legacy carrier that hasn't filed for bankruptcy.

It costs American Airlines about 12 cents per available seat mile (that seat's portion of all the airline's costs) to fly a 757. With 188 seats, a 2,500-mile transcontinental flight on an American 757 must contribute $56,400 to the company's coffers (188 multiplied by 0.12, then multiplied by 2,500). To do that, every seat must sell for $300 ($56,400 divided by 188), said Scott Nason, American's vice president of revenue management.

Roughly two-thirds of that $56,400 is for fixed costs, such as equipment, labor and facilities, which must be paid whether that particular plane flies or not. Next, consider that because the plane is scheduled to fly, the airline is already committed to additional spending for fuel, landing fees and maintenance.

At that point, any additional costs associated with taking an extra passenger -- the marginal costs -- are extremely small, maybe a tiny bit of fuel and a can of soda pop. Industry analysts have put that cost at less than $30.

Now a low-cost competitor, able to shrink costs through new planes, lower salaries and a small route system, steps in and offers tickets for $250.

"What would you do?" Nason said. "I really need to cover the seat at $300. My choice is getting $250 or nothing. I'm better off getting $250."

"That is a philosophy . . . that drives the industry to lose money," Nason said. "There aren't 188 people willing to pay over $300 for each of those seats.

"As long as the cost is above your short-run marginal costs, you're better off lowering your fare than having that seat go empty. But if you do it everywhere, then you lose money."

Who paid what

Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.			Los Angeles to San Francisco
Fare paid	Number of passengers	Percentage	Fare paid	Passengers	Percentage
$0 to $49	280	0.1%	$0 to $49	10,600	2.1%
$50 to $149	36,570	12.0%	$50 to $149	430,400	83.9%
$150 to $249	152,380	50.1%	$150 to $249	48,260	9.4%
$250 to $349	50,600	16.6%	$250 to $349	12,110	2.4%
$350 to $449	16,960	5.6%	$350 to $449	3,560	0.7%
$450 to $549	12,190	4.0%	$450 to $549	2,640	0.5%
$550 to $649	9,330	3.1%	$550 to $649	3,320	0.6%
$650 to $749	8,820	2.9%	$650 to $749	1,600	0.3%
$750 to $849	5,650	1.9%	$750 to $849	260	0.1%
$850 to $949	2,080	0.7%	$850 and up	230	0.0%
$950 to $1,049	1,440	0.5%	Total	512,980
$1,050 to $1,149	1,570	0.5%
$1,150 to $1,249	1,330	0.4%
$1,250 and up	4,740	1.6%
Total	303,940

Numbers are based on a 10% sample from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Origin and Destination Survey for the first quarter of 2007, then adjusted to 100%. Flights are one way and exclude frequent-flier seats. Source: Back Aviation Solutions

The answer: Product segmentation

Because a single price scheme doesn't work, the airlines have pioneered an elaborate system to create different products, or fares, within a single flight, for which they charge different prices. Your seat might look the same as the guy's in 15F, but he actually bought a different product. Most likely, so did everyone on the plane.

Yield management, or, as it's now called, revenue management, uses three general techniques:

• Entice passengers who are willing to pay to pay more for attractive amenities, such as comfort (extra legroom and bigger seats), speed (priority check-in and boarding), services (meals, beverages and additional flight attendants) and perks (lounge access and entertainment).

• Keep passengers who are willing to pay from buying discounted fares by imposing unattractive restrictions on those fares, such as prohibiting one-way combinations and layovers, adding stops, requiring advance purchase and minimum stays, and charging penalties for changes and extra amounts for peak seasons, days or times.
• Price remaining seats low enough to stimulate demand among those who otherwise might not fly, thus filling seats that would otherwise remain empty.

This is not a complete list of restrictions and perks. A single ticket's fare conditions might run nine pages. Carl de Marcken, a co-founder of ITA Software, which writes airline shopping software for Orbitz and major airlines, computed 25.4 million possible fare combinations for one round-trip American Airlines route by allowing travel within one day on each end.

Open the possibilities -- here's where a math degree comes in handy -- and it is considered effectively mathematically impossible to find the lowest available fare for a trip. There are simply too many combinations to multiply.

Why so many fares? Because each fare comes with its own supply-and-demand curve that helps the airline fetch the highest price. Powerful software tools forecast demand for each seat, then automatically recalibrate the flight, and those around it, when a ticket is purchased. This is why fares appear to change within days or even hours. Such revenue management is credited with helping the industry finally generate profits in the 1990s.

"If you can figure out how to get an extra buck on a seat you're going to be doing well," said Petree, of Embry-Riddle. "It's actually down in the cents, the fractions of cents. That's how tight the margins are."

Cheap ticket? Thank a businessman

Any question you've ever had about why tickets are priced differently can be answered by asking not how much extra that fare cost the airline -- maybe nothing -- but by considering the demand for that seat. If someone else is willing to pay more for it, then it is priced higher. Simple as that.

Take a particularly odd example: It can cost more to fly from Boston to Chicago than from Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles. Why? Because the demand is greater for the Boston-to-Chicago flight; it's a popular business route.

Same for the old Saturday-night-stay requirement, which served no purpose other than to push business travelers toward the higher Friday fares, said MIT's Belobaba.

Internationally, business class generates 3.5 to 4.5 times more revenue than coach, where 5% to 20% of seats might be sold under cost, said industry analyst Henry Harteveldt of Forrester Research.

"Every travel manager out there I know for big corporations feels as if they are being taken advantage of," said Brad Seitz, the president of Topaz International, a travel-auditing firm. It makes sense from the airline's perspective, he said, but consultants who must travel on short notice are held captive. "They're paying the highest fares at the last minute."

Leisure travelers, treated as more elastic consumers, have benefited. From 1980 -- shortly after deregulation in 1978 -- to 2005, median airfares have declined 40%, according to a U.S. Government Accountability Office study, with fares dropping even more in long-haul markets.

Thank the folks in first class, too

On a recent United Airlines flight from New York City to San Francisco, the lowest fare was $319, round trip. The highest, an unrestricted first-class seat, sold for $3,300, one way -- about 20 times more. The data were presented by Tri-Pen Management and were not unusual, say analysts.

So, what does a flier get for an extra $6,300 (assuming he or she makes the return trip as well)?

• Personal attention. A first-class cabin might have one attendant for every 10 or 15 passengers, as opposed to one for every 50 in coach.

• More room. This includes legroom, wide, reclining chairs that might go flat, and laptop work space. The actual dimensions differ by airline. Check out SeatGuru for details on all kinds of airline seats.

• Networking opportunities. "If you're a businessperson, you meet a lot of interesting people, high-powered people," said Bob Cowen of InternetTravelTips.com. You could land next to a champion road warrior, a frequent flier with good travel stories or even a minor celebrity.

• Quasi-fine dining. Complimentary appetizers, beverages or hot meals. And it's OK to ask for more.

• A better movie selection. Easier access to the magazine rack.

• Shorter lines. First-class travelers need to arrive at the airport early, but they may use separate security gates with much shorter lines.

• Lounge access. First-class tickets typically come with a day pass to the airline's club lounge. Lounges have a relaxed atmosphere, wireless computer access, food and sometimes complimentary drinks. International flight lounges might offer showers and gourmet meals.

• Better help. The lounges are staffed with senior ticket agents who appear knowledgeable and unflustered. No huddling in the crowds at the gate counter.

If you're back in coach, cramped in a seat and clutching your last bag of peanuts, you might well nod a friendly "thank you" to the high rollers on the way out rather than scowling.

After all, their bills help fund the airline and, in part, your ability to fly on the cheap.

15 cheaper ways to tour Europe

With the weak dollar, you have to travel smart. That means doing a lot of research before you leave home and avoiding the places and things that suck up your money -- within reason. After all, you are on vacation.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

Ouch! Ai! Aie! Autsch!

That's the sound you'll be hearing all over Europe as U.S. travelers discover how very weak their dollars have become.

The last time my husband and I visited France, in 2002, the dollar and the euro were more or less equal. On our return trip five years later, the euro was about 40% stronger -- and it made a big difference in where we stayed, what we ate and, to a lesser extent, what we did with our time.

You can still have a wonderful visit, but the following tips will help you stretch your money at a time when $6 coffees and $300 shoebox-sized hotel rooms are the norm:

Research like crazy -- and be flexible. There's no substitute for shopping around when it comes to finding great deals on airlines and hotels. No single source always has the best prices; I've booked cheap vacations from consolidators, travel agents and third-party travel Web sites as well as directly with airlines and hotels. Several of our friends also swear by the package deals offered off-season by airlines, including United and Virgin. Check them all out, and make sure to look at different departure and return dates. Traveling midweek generally cuts costs, and moving your visit by a few weeks can also save a bundle. Also, check your frequent-flier miles; although it's harder to book reward flights in peak seasons, you may still be able to find seats on less-popular routes and flights.

Consider a non-euro destination. You can still travel cheap to certain European countries that don't use the euro, but you have to pick your non-euro country wisely. Americans' top European destination, the United Kingdom, still uses the pound but is no bargain; ditto for Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland. But Eastern European destinations such as Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania offer culture, dramatic architecture and a decent exchange rate.

Where we go

International destinations of U.S. travelers
Western Europe	40%
United Kingdom	14%
France	9%
Italy	7%
Germany	6%
Netherlands	3%
Spain	3%
Ireland	3%
Switzerland	2%
Austria	2%
Asia	19%
Caribbean	18%
South America	9%
Central America	7%
Eastern Europe	4%
Oceania	3%
Africa	2%

Figures add up to more than 100% due to multiple destinations of some travelers.

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce

Rent an apartment. If you're staying at least a week in one place, renting a flat is often more economical than staying in a hotel. We found a cozy little apartment on Ile St. Louis in Paris that worked out to about $150 a night, including all fees; the least expensive hotel we could find in the same neighborhood was more than $200 a night, not including taxes.

The apartment had a kitchen, which saved us money on meals, and a washer/dryer combination, which allowed us to pack exceptionally light. Of course, it was on the fifth floor of a building that had no elevator, but we figured the exercise was good for us. You can find apartment rental agencies in every major city; locate them with an Internet search, or ask your well-traveled friends for recommendations.

Don't overpack. Too much stuff means you'll wind up taking taxis instead of the cheap public transit that connects most European airports and city centers. You also could pay extra if you have more luggage than airlines allow. I toured India with a single suitcase and managed a 10-day trip to France with one carry-on bag, so I've learned that packing light pays off. (You might want to stuff a collapsible duffle bag into your suitcase, however, to bring home any treasures you buy overseas.) Stick to one basic color scheme for clothing, like dark blue or black, and try to make sure each piece works with all the other pieces for maximum variety. Good leather walking shoes, preferably in black, are another must; nothing screams "U.S. tourist" like white sneakers.

Tip the right way. It's not true that Europeans don't expect tips, but it is true that the rules are different. Use a guidebook to brush up on the rules of each country before you land, and avoid the mistake I made of overtipping a Parisian taxi driver by $20 and failing to tip a wonderful Italian waiter who bent over backward to make our evening memorable.

Use the right credit cards -- and call your issuer. A few years ago, using your MasterCard or Visa for most purchases was a great idea, since you got the best possible exchange rate (the one offered to major banks). Now, many major issuers -- including Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo -- are tacking an extra 2% fee on top of the 1% fee charged by Visa and MasterCard. Only two cards, Capital One and Discover, waive the fee entirely, and Discover isn't widely accepted outside North America. Check with your card issuers to see which issuer charges the least, and use that card for most of your purchases. Be sure to take at least one extra card and to let your issuers know in advance when you'll be out of the country. On our honeymoon in Spain, our credit card issuer cut off access to our card, convinced that our overseas purchases were a sign of fraud. Fortunately, we had a spare card with us, averting what could have been a disaster.

Fees for international transactions

Issuer	Fee
Capital One	0%
Discover*	0%
Washington Mutual	1%
American Express	2%
Pulaski Bank	2%
Barclays/Juniper Bank	2% to 3%**
Bank of America	3%
Chase	3%
Citibank	3%
GE Money	3%
HSBC	1% to 3%**
U.S. Bank	3%
Wells Fargo	3%

*Very limited acceptance outside North America

**Depends on card

Source: IndexCreditCards.com

Use your ATM card for cash. Banks are cashing in by charging higher fees for overseas transactions, but you're still better off using ATMs than most currency-exchange kiosks. Just make sure you withdraw large amounts -- $200 to $300 at a time -- so that the $1.50-to-$3 fees your bank charges don't add up. (Also, make sure you know your numeric PIN -- European keypads usually don't have letters on them -- and try to make your withdrawals at a bank during business hours, in case your card gets eaten.) If you do use a currency-exchange service, pick one that posts the rates at which it buys as well as sells currency. The rip-off places are the ones that post only the selling price, or the ones that have more than a 5% gap between the two prices.

Keep your receipts. If you shop a lot, you can get a refund of the value-added tax (VAT) you pay in European countries. This is something you'll need to do at the airport on your way out of the country, but the small hassle can be worth the savings -- up to 25% of what you spent. Follow the instructions in your guidebook for claiming your refund.

Investigate to save. Speaking of guidebooks, get one that's compatible with your budget and tastes. In my young, single days, I was a huge fan of the Lonely Planet guides and Rick Steves' "Through the Back Door" books. They're perfect for the budget-minded traveler, with excellent information on hostels, cheap eats and inexpensive amusements. I still check one of these out of the library when planning our trips. But now we tend to take more upscale books like Fodor's that offer more midpriced options, as well as detailed guides to museums and cultural attractions. Read through a few guidebooks at the bookstore before you decide.

Get a museum pass. Most major cities allow you to buy one-, three- or five-day passes that get you into major museums. Not only do these passes tend to pay for themselves with just a few visits, but they also allow you to skip the hours-long lines at popular museums like the Louvre in Paris and the Uffizi in Florence. That alone would have been worth paying a premium.

Scope out transit options. Public transportation in Europe tends to be efficient, cheap and safe. The Tube will get you just about anywhere you need to go in London -- including back and forth from Heathrow. Trains and the Metro do the same in Paris. Many other cities, such as Florence and Venice, are small enough that you'll be able to walk just about everywhere you want to go, or you can rent a scooter. There's really no reason to rent cars, which are expensive to park in cities; save that for trips to the countryside. Your guidebook will tell you where to buy transit passes. Another great option: renting bicycles. Despite narrow streets and cobblestones, most European cities are very bike-friendly, and you can cover a lot of ground with little effort. In Paris, a road that runs along the Seine River is off-limits to cars on Sundays and holidays, and fills instead with walkers, skaters and whole families out for a bike ride.

Eat like the natives. A popular piece of budget travel advice is to eat your largest meal at lunch, when prices are cheaper. But we've found dinner to be the main social event in most countries, and have had good luck getting overseas friends (or friends of friends) to give us recommendations for great places -- some pricey, some not. In order to splurge, we typically have light breakfasts and picnic lunches in local parks. We also alternate less expensive dinners in university districts, which cater to starving students, with fancier dinners recommended by city natives.

Shop like a native. One way to really save money is not to shop at all, but few of us can resist the urge to bring back some booty. For the best deals, avoid the shops and stalls around tourist attractions; instead visit the department stores and even grocers that locals use. Which would you rather have: an Eiffel Tower refrigerator magnet or a jar of real French jam? A cheap plastic statue of the David, or a bottle of Italian olive oil? I'm also a big fan of real flea markets, not the overpriced tchotchke markets aimed at tourists that you find operating in city centers most days of the week. Typically, the real flea markets are held once or twice a month in slightly-off-the-beaten-path neighborhoods and attended mostly by locals. In Florence, for example, I found great deals on secondhand pottery, antique fabrics and old lithographs, along with headless Barbies and enormous vinyl record collections, at the flea market on Piazza dei Ciompi; it's held on the last Sunday of each month. Prices are negotiable, so you'll need to exercise your haggling skills.

Check out the countryside. This advice is purely "do as I say, not as I do," because our love of museums keeps us pretty much nailed to big cities. If you can break away from urban areas, though, you'll often find more reasonable rates for food and lodging in rural areas and smaller cities.

Next time, go in the shoulder season. Technically, winter is the cheapest time to visit Europe, but six years of living in Alaska made me allergic to cold weather as well as reluctant to cart the heavy coats, hats and gloves needed to survive a February day in London. Instead, we tend to visit Europe in the spring or fall, when hotel rates are still cheaper than the busy summer season and there are (relatively speaking) fewer tourists.

Columns by Liz Pulliam Weston, the Web's most-read personal finance writer, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board. 

8 exotic but cheap vacations

From Peru to Malaysia, there are still fascinating places a couple can travel in style -- even lavishly -- on $100 or less a day.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

The weak dollar has made travel abroad increasingly painful for most U.S. travelers, who tend to herd to a small number of European destinations: typically the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany.

Budget-minded tourists can cope by scouring the Internet for bargain flights, squeezing into no-star hotels and subsisting on cheese and crackers eaten on a park bench. Or they could consider getting a little more adventurous and traveling to where their dollars still go a long, long way.

Where we went in 2005

Country
Europe	42%
Caribbean	20%
Asia	19%
South America	8%
Central America	6%
Middle East	4%
Africa	2%
Australia	2%

Source: U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism Industries. Percentages add up to more than 100% because some travelers visited more than one area.

How does a beachfront bungalow for $10 to $20 sound? Or a seafood dinner for $2? Or admission for two to a museum for less than a buck? Or (if you like luxury) one of the finest hotel rooms in the world, for less than $300 a night?

All of this is possible if you break out of the Grand Tour circuit and consider some of the many great travel bargains in other parts of the world.

I asked Tim Leffel, author of "The World's Cheapest Travel Destinations," to pick out eight dollar-stretching countries, including some that would be good for school-age kids. (We agreed that traveling to developing nations with infants and preschoolers is a bit dicey, both for the kids' health and the parents' sanity, although people certainly do it.)

Airfares to these countries from U.S. cities range from a few hundred bucks to $1,000 or more. (You can get an idea of current fares at MSN Travel.) Once you're there, though, you'll spend far less than you would in more developed nations, and often less than you'd spend feeding, entertaining and sheltering yourself at home.

The possibilities are endless

Argentina: Imagine a country with stunning scenery, exciting nightlife, world-class food and wine -- and now imagine it on sale for two-thirds off. Once the most-expensive country in South America, Argentina's economic collapse and subsequent currency devaluation in 2001 created bargains whose effects continue to linger. The economy is now on a robust rebound, but the dollar still goes a long way. Leffel said budget travelers can get by on $25 to $35 a day, but those willing to spend a bit more -- say, $75 to $150 for a couple -- can feast on gourmet meals and stay in great hotels. Dinner, by the way, is typically served at 10 p.m. and signals the start of partying into the wee hours, which is why Leffel sees Argentina, and especially Buenos Aires, as a better bet for singles and couples than families.

Honduras' Roatan Island: This coastal island has "postcard perfect" beaches and plenty of expatriates (American and otherwise), which means it's more expensive than the mainland, Leffel said. Still, it's a good value by Caribbean standards, and it isn't plagued by the street crime and violence that characterize much of the rest of the country.

"The mainland of Honduras has a reputation of being unsafe," Leffel said, "but the island of Roatan is much calmer and is one of the most reasonable places on the planet to get certified as a scuba diver."

Rooms run anywhere from $10 to $200, and a gourmet meal might set you back $15. In the off-season, you may be able to find a dive package that includes steeply discounted or even free hotel rooms.

Malaysia: Malaysia is more westernized than other bargain Asian countries and is, in Leffel's view, "one of the best choices in Asia" for traveling with children. "It's easy to get around, there are plenty of cuisines to pick from, and you can usually drink the water," he says. "A lot of people speak English, and there are also a lot of attractions in a relatively small area."

Malaysia offers beautiful beaches, exotic jungles, colorful temples and some lovely train rides (although "comfortable and efficient buses go almost everywhere," Leffel said). The daily price tag for a bamboo bungalow, meals and snorkeling equipment might be as little as $30 for a couple, with daily costs for food and lodging about twice that in the cities.

Mexico: If you stay away from the overpriced resort towns -- Acapulco, Cancun, Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta -- Mexico can still offer great value for your money. A budget-minded couple can travel comfortably on $50 to $75 a day, while midrange travelers might spend $80 to $150. "There are plenty of beach options for kids and, alternatively, most will enjoy the Copper Canyon train trip (in north central Mexico)," Leffel said. "For couples or adult groups, I would advise people to spend some time in the pretty colonial cities: Guanajuato, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Merida or San Miguel de Allende.

The latter gets a lot of tourists, and prices are higher because of all the expats, but the others are more mellow, and hotel rates are excellent. All are in the middle interior except for Merida, which is in the Yucatan, four hours west of Cancun."

Morocco: This northern African nation "is practically rowing distance from Europe," in Leffel's words, yet a world away: exotic marketplaces, ancient fortresses and the wail of the muezzin calling faithful Muslims to prayer five times a day. Get out of the big, chaotic cities of Tangier and Marrakech as quickly as possible, Leffel advises, and head for the uncrowded beaches, beautiful mountains, cedar forests with their Barbary apes and old towns on the Sahara's edge. "The cities can be maddening after a while, but older kids will love the camel rides, desert walks and mountain hikes," Leffel said. A budget-minded couple can get by on about $50 a day, while those looking for more creature comforts might spend twice that.

Peru: The Incan ruins of Machu Picchu are the country's biggest tourist attraction, but there are plenty of others, including Amazon rain forests, colonial cities, whitewater rafting and mountain trekking. "Adults enjoy the low prices and wealth of sightseeing opportunities," Leffel said, "while kids will enjoy all the animals and colorful Andean costumes."

With the exception of a few gustatory oddities, like roasted guinea pig, "most of the food will be recognizable to children, including plenty of pizza," he said. Meals tend to cost $1 to $3 in local restaurants, or $2 to $5 in places catering to tourists. Midrange travelers might pay $50 to $80 a night for lodging in the Lima or Cuzco, but elsewhere the rates are typically lower.

Thailand: Here's where even the most frugal traveler might want to cut loose for a night or two, since even the most amazingly luxurious, five-star hotel rooms routinely go for $300 a night or less (a couple of examples include the Oriental, routinely named as one of the best hotels in the world, and the Four Seasons). Otherwise, budget travelers can live on $30 to $40 a day, and beachfront bungalows can be had for $20 or less. Thailand, mostly recovered now from the 2004 tsunami, "truly has something for everyone, from backpackers to jet-setters, honeymooners to families with kids," Leffel said. "Stunning beaches and snorkeling/diving, sailing, hiking, elephant rides, floating fruit markets, historic sites and glowing golden temples." And don't forget the shopping; custom, handmade suits with tailored shirts run $80 to $200.

Turkey: People who visit tend to rave about this nation that straddles Europe and Asia, and Leffel is no exception. He calls it "one of the greatest countries in the world for sightseeing" and "one of the best values on the planet," despite prices that have crept higher as tourism expands and businesses switch to the euro. Roman ruins, Ottoman palaces, Byzantine art, ancient churches and eye-dazzling mosques will keep your days busy in the cities, while the coast includes plenty of resorts that cater to families. Kids will go nuts over the weird, alien landscape of Cappadoccia with its strange rock formations and underground cities (you can even spend the night in a cave room for about $10). Turkey's a good country to visit with a midrange budget, and $70 to $150 a day will buy two people nice hotel rooms and three good restaurant meals a day. Turkey's also a good bet for women traveling alone, as females are rarely hassled on the street.

If you're thinking about visiting one of these countries, or one of the many others that offer great value for your dollars, consider the following tips:

If you have only a week off, consider Latin American destinations. You can get to many Central American destinations with a four- or five-hour flight. Even South American cities that take longer to reach will still be in the same general time zones as the U.S., so you won't lose a day (or more) to jet lag. Latin Americans are still pretty friendly to Americans, and you probably already know at least some Spanish: hola (hello), gracias (thank you), una cerveza, por favor (a beer, please).

If you're visiting Asia, consider an around-the-world ticket. You can get a flight to Bangkok from Los Angeles for about $900. For $1,299, Air Brokers International allows you to add stops in India and Europe. For $1,449, you can add Hong Kong and Singapore to your itinerary. The more time you have, the better, but I once visited London, New Delhi, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei in 11 whirlwind days.

Turkey and Morocco can be exotic budget-saving breaks in a more expensive European vacation. These two countries are a relatively short hop from more traveled European capitals, and you'll be stepping into a far more exotic (and affordable) world. Other less expensive possibilities: Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic.

Liz Pulliam Weston's new book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board. 

Beware these 5 insurance traps

You might think your pets, your kids' toys and your personal problems are your own darn business. But insurers watch these things -- and they could cost you.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

If you smoke like a chimney, you're going to pay more for life insurance. If you wreck your car, your auto premiums are going to soar. If you live on the edge of a wildfire-prone forest, you'll pay a lot more for homeowners insurance than someone in the suburbs.

All these situations make sense to us consumers. Greater risks, bigger premiums.

But insurers also care about other, seemingly obscure stuff: How you give birth, what you have in your backyard, what breed of dog you own, whether you max out your credit cards and how well your brain works.

If you don't know about these concerns, you may find yourself getting turned down for coverage or paying a lot more than you expect. A little knowledge can help you prepare and find a policy you can afford.

Here's what you need to know about:

Caesarian sections

If you're not covered by an employer plan and you're trying to buy an individual health insurance policy, you'll typically pay more for maternity benefits, which help cover the costs of carrying and bearing a child.

But maternity coverage may be more expensive, or not available at all, if you've had a child by Caesarian section.

C-sections typically cost insurers nearly $3,000 more than vaginal deliveries, and a woman who's had a Caesarian delivery in the past is more likely to have one in the future. Some insurers refuse to provide maternity benefits to such women, while others charge them more for coverage.

How much of an issue this is depends on where you live and on your individual circumstances.

For example, a woman in her early 40s may be deemed at low risk of having another child and offered a policy with a premium that's 25% to 50% higher than what she would have paid without having had a previous C-section, says Amir Mostafaie, a training manager for eHealthInsurance.com who is a licensed agent in all 50 states.

"If she's in her 20s or 30s, there's generally a higher chance she'll get pregnant again," Mostafaie says. "She may be issued a policy with exclusions" so that maternity coverage isn't included.

Where you live can also have a profound effect on your options.

In "guaranteed issue" states -- New York, New Jersey and Washington -- insurers aren't allowed to cherry-pick their risks or charge more for things like previous C-sections, Mostafaie says. In other states, insurers have few restrictions on what they can do.

"If you're turned down, you might not have other options," Mostafaie says.

If you're in the market for individual health coverage and this issue affects you, consider working with an experienced insurance broker familiar with various insurers' policies. You don't want to risk being turned down for coverage, as that can be a red flag for other insurers, so it's best to find out in advance which companies may penalize you.

Trampolines

Kids love them, but many insurers don't. Some will charge a higher rate to cover the increased liability for injuries, while others won't cover you at all.

"Even with the proper safety measures in place, trampolines are considered a big risk and account for more injuries requiring emergency-room treatment than backyard swimming pools do," says Loretta Worters, spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group. "On average, trampoline accidents run about $300 million annually in medical, legal and insurance expenses."

• Video: Your biggest investment -- your credit scores

One of my readers bought a trampoline, complete with surround frame and safety netting, as a birthday present for one of her children. She didn't think to mention it to her insurer. When she switched insurance companies a few months later, the new insurer sent out an agent to take pictures of the property.

"Someone from the company saw the trampoline in one of the pictures from the agent," she wrote. To keep the coverage, "we had to take down the trampoline and write that we would not put it up on the property as long as they insured it."

Some insurers will cover a trampoline as long as it's inside a locked fence, to prevent unsupervised children from playing. Others will issue a policy that excludes coverage for injuries from the trampoline.

"Trampolines are what's considered an attractive nuisance, something that invites trespassers," Worters says. "No matter what precautions are taken, there is the possibility that a court case will find the owner of the trampoline guilty of negligence, even if the homeowner posts signs or takes preventative measures."

If you're considering buying a trampoline, ask your insurer about its coverage policies first. But also consider the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatricians, which has long advised against trampolines.

"Despite all currently available measures to prevent injury, the potential for serious injury while using a trampoline remains," the academy says. "The need for supervision and trained personnel at all times makes home use extremely unwise."

'Bad' dogs

As I wrote in "Your dog's bite could bankrupt you," insurers are increasingly concerned about the rising costs of dog-bite claims. (Dog bites now make up one-third of all homeowner liability claims, and the average cost was $24,511 in 2007, up 28% in five years.) Some insurers have blacklisted certain breeds, such as pit bulls. Others will cover any dog until it bites, and then you could lose your coverage, pay more for it or be forced to sign a waiver that excludes any further damage done by the animal.

Insurers don't necessarily make these policies clear upfront. If you're shopping for homeowners coverage, make it clear you own a dog and what breed it is so you don't wind up getting canceled later. Before adding any dog to your household, call your insurer. Consider getting a different breed, or a different insurer, if the two are incompatible.

Bad credit

In most states, insurers that provide homeowners and auto policies are allowed to consider your credit history when deciding whether to issue or renew a policy, as well as how much to charge. (California and Massachusetts, which both ban the use of so-called insurance scoring, are among the exceptions.)

Why should credit matter to insurers? Several studies, including an influential one by the Texas Department of Insurance, show a strong link between consumers' credit scores and their propensity to file insurance claims. The worse their scores, in other words, the more likely they are to cost their insurers money.

Unfortunately, credit scores don't differentiate between folks who refuse to pay their bills and those who simply can't because of job loss, medical problems or a subprime mortgage they can't handle. (See "Does bad credit make you a bad person?")

That's why some consumer advocates have pushed insurance regulators to suspend or restrict insurers' ability to use credit information, especially as the economy deteriorates. So far, the advocates haven't had much success.

If you've had credit problems, you should shop around for insurance, as not all insurers use credit information. You also should do what you can to improve your credit, such as paying bills on time and not using more than 30% of your available credit limits. Read "7 fast fixes for your credit score" for details.

Mental-health problems

If you've ever taken antidepressants, seen a therapist or been treated for an addiction, you may pay more for life insurance. If your problems are serious or ongoing, you may have to search hard to find a policy at all. (See "Prozac: Hazard to your health insurance.")

Bipolar disorder, ongoing treatment for substance abuse or a history of suicide attempts can make you tough to insure, says Byron Udell, president and CEO of Accuquote, an online insurance broker.

Other problems may be less of an obstacle, particularly as time passes. If you were treated 10 or 20 years ago for substance abuse and have remained clean, for example, you may not get an insurer's best rates, but you won't be turned down just because of your history.

And some "situational" problems may not cause your rates to rise at all, Udell says. If you were treated for depression after divorce or the death of a spouse, for instance, and are fully recovered, "most companies would view this as a nonissue."

• Video: Your biggest investment -- your credit scores

You might be tempted to conceal your troubles and hope your insurer doesn't find out. That's playing with fire. If your insurer discovers your history by, say, talking to your doctors or reviewing your prescription history, it could decide you committed fraud and either cancel your policy (if you're still alive) or refuse to pay out its proceeds (if it conducts the investigation after your death).

"Anything you lie about, if it's material enough to affect their underwriting, that's grounds for fraud," Udell says. "If you lie, you may think you have coverage, but maybe you don't have it. It's better to tell the truth."

Here's another area where having an experienced insurance agent can be an enormous help. The agent should know which insurers are most receptive to applicants with mental-health issues and will be able to advocate for you.

Liz Pulliam Weston's latest book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.

Published Oct. 13, 2008

50 Smart Ways to Trim your budget

50 ways to trim your budget

You don't have to give up the things you love to save money. You just have to be willing to look hard. Start with your fixed expenses, then review your discretionary costs.

By Liz Pulliam Weston

Lou knows his family is in a vicious cycle with credit cards. He's just not sure how to get out.

Bills and credit card payments eat up most of the Mansfield, Ohio, family's income, leaving them little left over to pay for groceries and other basics. So they wind up charging more.

"My family has about $12,000 in debt to credit card companies," Lou wrote in an e-mail. "We want to stop using these cards and get this fixed. But we are 'bridging the gap' with credit."

Like many families, Lou's clan already has trimmed some of the obvious expenses, such as eating in restaurants. But really getting your budget in line may require rethinking just about everything on which you spend money.

Look at the biggies first

The biggest savings often lie in the areas where you spend the most money: housing, transportation, food, insurance, health care and clothing. Here are some ideas for places to look for savings.

Average household spending
Average income (before taxes)	$82,195	% of expenditures
Average annual expenditures	$62,503	N/A
Housing	$20,283	32%
Transportation	$11,338	18%
Food	$7,920	13%
Personal insurance and pensions	$7,383	12%
Other	$6,250	10%
Health care	$3,713	6%
Entertainment	$3,124	5%
Apparel and services	$2,381	4%

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey 2006

Housing and utilities

If you're struggling with an unaffordable mortgage or rent payment, moving to a cheaper place or getting a roommate may be options. Otherwise, some ways to lower your housing costs include:

• Refinance your mortgage to get a lower rate or switch from a 15-year mortgage to a 30-year loan.
• Raise your deductibles on your homeowners or renters insurance.
• Challenge your property-tax assessment.

• Eliminate premium channels from your cable or satellite TV service.
• Drop the pay TV services altogether.
• Reduce phone extras such as call forwarding or call waiting.
• Cancel your land line in favor of cell service (or vice versa).
• Seek a cheaper long-distance carrier (try SaveonPhone.com or LowerMyBills.com ) or switch to Internet calling if you have high-speed service.
• Investigate whether bundled service (phone, high-speed Internet and cable television) might save you money.
• Wash only full loads of dishes or clothes.
• Use a clothesline and use your dryer just to soften air-dried clothes.
• Use shades, blinds and drapes to regulate your home temperature: Keep them open in the winter to let in light and drawn in the summer to block the sun's rays.
• Install a programmable thermostat so your home is heated or cooled only when you're actually there.
• Don a sweater in winter and shorts in the summer so you're not overheating or cooling your house.
• Switch to compact-fluorescent bulbs, and turn them off when not needed. Turn off TVs, computers and other electronics when not in use.

Rob Seiss of Pearl River, N.Y., said he's constantly nagging his family to turn off the lights and TV. He also turns down the thermostat at night and when his family is on vacation.

"Now, I don't just sound like my father," Seiss said. "I am my father."

Transportation

Buying used cars and driving them for years is a great way to reduce your lifetime transportation expenditures. But there are other, more immediate ways to save, as well:

• Raise the deductibles on your auto-insurance policy.
• Get all the discounts you deserve, such as good-driver, good-student and multiple-car discounts.
• If you're driving less, tell your insurer; you may get a cheaper rate.
• Cancel collision and comprehensive insurance on cars older than five to seven years.
• Investigate carpools and public transportation. Cities often have online trip planners to help you figure out the system. See if your employer offers any subsidies. Look into car sharing.
• Bike or walk as often as possible.
• Avoid repair bills by maintaining your vehicles properly with regular oil and filter changes.
• Group your errands and, if you have more than one car, use the vehicle with better gas mileage.

"Just because you have a gas-guzzling SUV," said Kevin Schilling of Kansas City, Mo., "does not mean that you have to drive it to the store to pick up a gallon of milk." 

Food

Dining out consumes about half the average family's food expenditures, so eating in more often is one of the fastest ways to trim your budget. (But first, read "Big night out, small price tag.") Other ways to control costs include:

• Bring lunches and snacks to work.
• Cook once, eat twice: Double whatever you're making and freeze the excess for a later meal.
• Make at least one or two meatless meals each week.
• Avoid overpackaged, overprocessed and highly advertised foods. The closer a food is to its natural state, the less it tends to cost.
• Buy fruits and vegetables in season. Also check out your local farmer's market.
• Cruise through your fridge daily to use items before they go bad.
• Give up a vice (smoking, drinking, soda, salty snack foods).
• Use the weekly grocery store circulars to see what's on sale and plan meals accordingly.

John and Carla Robertson of Denton, Texas, have turned meal planning into a family affair, soliciting input from their three young kids.

"Every weekend we sit down and make out the next week's menu," John Robertson wrote. "We refer to old menus for meals that we enjoyed, and we put together a lunch and dinner menu for the entire week. We also plan on cooking extra at some meals so that the leftovers can be used for lunches a day or two later."

Marcia Spires of New York City has another tip: Avoid recipes that require you to buy exotic ingredients you're unlikely to use again. "I'm a lazy cook on a budget," Spires declared. "I look at the elaborate recipes in magazines and count the ingredients (are they capital intensive?) and the number of verbs in the instructions (are they labor intensive?). Too high a score and I skip to the next page."

Personal insurance and retirement

You might be tempted to cut back on your 401(k) contributions to pay off debt, but that's not a good idea, if you can avoid it. Most companies with 401(k)s offer matching funds, so failing to contribute means you lose that free money. You also don't want to drop disability insurance, which protects you should illness or accident prevent you from working. Here are better areas to look for savings:

• Consider "refinancing" your term life insurance; rates have dropped in the past decade, so you might be able to qualify for a lower premium.
• If you have a long-term disability policy, investigate the savings if you opt for a longer waiting period to reduce premiums (if you have an emergency fund or other income to bridge the gap).
• Suspend contributions to annuities and other accounts that don't offer matching funds or tax breaks.
• Make sure you got proper tax credit for last year's retirement contributions if your adjusted gross income was less than $25,000 (for singles) or $50,000 (for couples). The retirement tax credit of up to $1,000 for lower earners is one of the most overlooked tax breaks, said MSN tax columnist Jeff Schnepper in "10 big deductions too many people miss." If you deserved this break but didn't take it, it's worth amending your return. 

Health care

Medical costs are rising at a rate much higher than general inflation, while employers are asking their workers to shoulder a bigger share of the expense. You can fight back if you:

• Buy generic drugs.
• Look for free and low-cost clinics.
• Use urgent-care clinics rather than emergency rooms whenever possible.
• Ask for discounts when you pay cash.
• Carefully review hospital bills for errors.
• Monitor insurance claims to make sure they get paid. 

Clothing and services

Professional organizers say most people wear just a fraction of the clothes they own. If that describes you, consider selling stuff you don't wear and being more careful when you shop. You can also trim what you spend on personal care and other services. For example:

• Find out what looks good on you and stick to classic styles that won't look weird next season.
• Inventory your wardrobe and buy pieces that work with what you already own.
• Avoid dry-clean-only clothing.
• Make hair appointments at beauty schools rather than full-priced salons.
• Drop your health club and form a walking or jogging group with friends.
• Hold a clothing swap with friends.
• Ask friends and relatives for hand-me-downs.
• Give kids a clothing allowance or offer "matching funds" for what they want to buy.
• Check out consignment and thrift stores for lightly used items.

"I always go once a month to a thrift store not far from my neighborhood," said Rebecca Kelly of Holiday, Fla.

"On Wednesdays, they have 50% off all the clothing. It takes a good two hours of time, but I've averaged (spending) about $30 per child, per season. If I were to buy the same clothes at a department store, I would be WAY out of my budget."

Liz Pulliam Weston's new book, "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life," is now available. Columns by Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer and winner of the 2007 Clarion Award for online journalism, appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.